29gl new build tank.

[Boolay1978]

What pipe and mandarin u gettig?

 

[Animal3625]

What pipe and mandarin u gettig?

African blue stripe pipe fish & green stripped mandarin

 

[Boolay1978]

Are the mandarin hard to keep?

 

[redsea]

Are the mandarin hard to keep?

Mandarins are normally classified as difficult because they have a specialized diet. In the wild, Mandarins mainly eat pods, which are little creatures that live in live rock. In an aquaria, a tank needs to be established for a while, six months to a year with pods, before the tank is possibly ready for a Mandarin.

There is a company located in Florida called ORA which breeds these fish. The fish that come form these facilities are supposed to be trained to eat prepared foods, but that isn't always the case. Even if the fish is eating prepared at first, it can revert back to its natural food source at any time.

I hope this helps!

 

[darkprincess]

I want a mandarin dragonette so bad! How do you even get copepods to feed them!!

 

[redsea]

I want a mandarin dragonette so bad! How do you even get copepods to feed them!!

You can sometimes find them in bottles for sale online or at your local LFS (local fish store).

Also, Carey recommended this place to me, and I will be getting mine from here.
ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Pods+

 

[darkprincess]

Awesome! Thank you so much! Can I just add them to my tank? I really don't have a refugium as I have a biocube...

 

[carey]

Speaking from experience, putting a mandarin in a biocube is very risky. especially without a fuge. They do make a refugium rack for the biocubes though, I have one. heres the link

BioCube 29 - Aquarium Filtration Upgrades & Supplies

 

[darkprincess]

Cool thanks. How does that work? I have bio balls in there now. What do the pods do in a rack like that?

 

[carey]

I removed the bioballs and added the filter media rack and the fuge rack with a light. You add chaeto and pods and the pods have a home to grow and procreate. Not a 100% solution to keeping a mandarin successfully but a good step in the right direction.

 

[darkprincess]

Lol....so what if I want to keep my cube stock? I'm not ready to mod it. I'm too new at this. I appreciate all your help. Can I use my 3 gallon eclipse as a refugium of sorts? It has a FFconch, a yellow watchman goby and a royal gramma plus a few crabs, but most can be relocated.

 

[darkprincess]

And how would you get the pods out of the rack if I changed it?

 

[carey]

The pods will just circulate through the tank and filtration through the water pump. It's not really a hard mod, just remove everything from the middle chamber and go from there.

I tried to make a "pod" tank for my scooter to eat from but it wasn't very successful. I had it set up for a few months too and it never produced enough pods for a dragonette to eat. :-(

 

[darkprincess]

I have a uv sterilized though. Would that kill them?

 

[carey]

Not sure, I don't run a UV on any of my tanks. :-(

 

[darkprincess]

I found out the answer is yes.

 

[Boolay1978]

Are there any tang or butterfly fish I could put in a 29gl if I got them small. Just desperate to get some thing that really stands out in there.

 

[redsea]

Updated pic of rock work

View attachment 85758

I like the colors on your Damsel, really bright and vivid.

Do you know the name off hand?

 

[redsea]

Are there any tang or butterfly fish I could put in a 29gl if I got them small. Just desperate to get some thing that really stands out in there.

There isn't a Butterflyfish or Tang that can live in a 29g.

 

[carey]

There isn't a Butterflyfish or Tang that can live in a 29g.

+ Nope, unfortunately a tang really needs a 75g MINIMUM and the butterflys need at least a 4 foot tank plus they tend to be very hard to keep.